Missy Elliott Honors Aaliyah On Anniversary Of Death: “Your Impact On Music Is Still Being Felt”

Aaliyah is one of the most indelible parts of Hip-Hop and R&B, even 23 years after her tragic death. Missy Elliott honored the late singer on her death anniversary this past weekend.

“Your IMPACT on music is still being felt & studied by the generations behind you!” the 53-year-old artist wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “They LOVE seeing your STYLE & MUSIC was different over 20 years ago & til this day you r still that TRENDSETTER *praise hands emoji* Prayers for your family & the families of those other talented lives who left with you on this day *bird emoji, prayer hands emoji* You will NEVER be Forgotten *hand heart emoji, bird emoji*”

Missy, alongside Timbaland, wrote and produced nine tracks for her second studio album One In A Million. They also assisted her in making “I Care 4 U,” one of the last tracks to come out before she died via plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001.

In 2021, Missy Elliott spoke about the process of Aaliyah making her legendary “4 Page Letter” and the classic “turn my music up” call.

“Funfact,” she wrote with laughing emojis. “When I was in the booth singing this my engineer had the music to low so I was telling him to turn it up but Aaliyah thought I meant to do it so she sung it like i did on the demo but it was a mistake…but she loved it…so we kept it like that.”

She continued, writing “And since Babygirl loved the mistake I told Jimmy the engineer to keep raising the music on the track everytime she say turn it up so it would make sense to the listeners so y’all wouldn’t think we was crazy…this skit is damn near what happened tho.”

Listen to “4 Page Letter” below.

More from VIBE.com

• Tyler, The Creator Blasts Artists Prioritizing Profit Over Their Passion For Music

• Missy Elliott Honored By Virginia Congressman During Out Of This World Tour

• Missy Elliott Makes History As "The Rain" Becomes First Rap Song To Be Transmitted Into Space